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 ometime
in the past week, the U.S. Air Force dropped a 500-pound bomb with
Barbara Olson's name on it on our enemies in Afghanistan. It couldn't
happen to a more deserving lot, and we can all hope that there will
be many more Barbara bombs in the years to come. After all, Santa
Barbara protects bombers and firemen — in Italian, Santa Barbara
means a big explosion — and both are deeply involved in this
conflict.
If you want
to understand why we are fighting this war, and how we became so
vulnerable to our enemies, get yourself a copy of Barbara Olson's
last book, The
Final Days, just published by feisty Al Regnery. It's a
delightful read, bursting with Barbara's passion for America and
her contempt for the corrupt Clintons who did so much to weaken
both our virtue and our awareness of our international mission.
It is eerie
to listen to Barbara list all the terrorists pardoned by the Clintons,
while they pillaged the White House and rescued Marc Rich from his
status as badly wanted person. All those Puerto Rican killers-their
group carried out 130 bombings between 1974 and 1983 — pardoned
in time for Hillary's Senate run in New York. And of course those
two wretched white girls, Susan "I rob banks with black people"
Rosenberg, lionized by 60 Minutes and praised by Rep. Nadler
of New York, and Linda Sue Evans, who conspired to bomb the Capitol
in 1983.
To those who
criticized him for the wholesale indulgences provided this striking
array of terrorists, Clinton responded in his usual way: with a
lie. For example, he blandly denied that any of the Puerto Rican
terrorists had ever been convicted of "crimes involving the
killing or maiming of any individual." They had actually killed
and maimed several individuals. But Clinton couldn't be bothered
with the truth, which was that these were dangerous people who should
have stayed in prison. Not one of them had showed remorse, not one
could reasonably have been considered rehabilitated for life in
civil society.
Barbara knew
better than most that lies have consequences, and presidential lying
about the gravity of terrorism contributed to our oral and intellectual
disarmament during the Clinton years. Yes, Clinton declared his
"war against terrorism," and yes, every so often he ordered
the launch of a cruise missile or two at a symbolic target in the
Middle East, but now that we know what a serious antiterrorist war
looks like, we can see the hollowness of Clinton's. He never devised
a serious strategy to fight the terrorists because he didn't want
to fight them. For Clinton, the entire issue was purely political,
and a serious fight would have forced him to make real commitments
and thereby limit his political options.
Indeed, reading
Barbara's book helps understand the greatest mystery of Clinton's
sham war against terrorism, namely his refusal to accept the Sudanese
offer to deliver Osama bin Laden to us. Clinton's aides and apologists
have put themselves through some fascinating mental contortion to
explain away this incredible blunder — indeed it verges on
madness — but I think Barbara's got it right: It wasn't politically
attractive. If we had arrested bin Laden, it would have focused
public attention on the terrorist issue, on which the Clinton administration
had been very weak. Clinton reckoned that the arrest wouldn't get
him many points with the public, but the ensuing debate and show
trial might have damaged him. So bin Laden escaped our clutches,
and went on to kill thousands of Americans, including Barbara Olson.
Paradoxically,
the Clintons were feeble towards our enemies but very dangerous
to the American people and the constitutional order. Contemptuous
of the legislative process, especially once the Republicans took
control of both houses of Congress, Clinton enacted a long series
of executive orders, thereby prompting an alarmingly self-contented
remark from one of his top aides, Paul Begala: "Stroke of the
pen, law of the land; kind of cool."
Very cool,
if you're unwilling to work the system, fight for your principles,
and submit to the will of elected representatives. Very uncool for
the long-term survival of the checks and balances upon which our
freedom depends.
Better than
any other observer of the Clintons, Barbara understood that it was
all about self-indulgence, and it all rested on their unwavering
conviction that they were better than the rest of us, and thus the
rules of American society did not properly apply to them. Thus the
looting of the White House for their personal use. Thus the ransacking
of Air Force One for souvenirs for themselves and their buddies.
Thus the pardons for friends of friends, and friends of the family,
especially when Hillary's brother stood to make hundreds of thousands
of dollars from the pardon of a drug dealer, or when, as in the
celebrated Marc Rich/Pinky Green pardon, grace was bestowed on a
relative of one of the Clintons' biggest contributors.
It is an outrage
that Barbara has been taken from us while the Clintons go about
their nefarious business largely undisturbed. But we can console
ourselves with the knowledge that our nation's highest-ranking attorney
is Barbara's widower Ted. For we know that Ted, more than any other
high official of this historic administration, will ceaselessly
fight for the highest national standards, tirelessly pursue of the
rule of righteous law, and passionately combat the moral rot that
the Clintons spread throughout the government.
Those of us
who knew her well, and loved her deeply, understand that we are
called to continue her fight. It is altogether right that our bombs
bear her name, and that our enemies should feel her wrath, for she
is our Joan of Arc, and she will continue to inspire our just cause
in many battles and for many years still to come.
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